Students, teachers headed to NYC for 'NanoDay' technology field trip

Albany, N.Y. October 15, 2009 – More than 50 area high school students and their teachers are heading to New York City Saturday, Oct. 17, on a field trip, 2009-style.

The teachers and students - from Albany, Argyle, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Fort Ann, Hadley-Luzerne, Ravena, Scotia-Glenville and Sharon Springs - are taking part in NanoDay, an all-day program developed to introduce college-bound students to the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The event - offered by New York State United Teachers and the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - is being sponsored by the Columbia University Nanocenter, in collaboration with City College of New York, Columbia University, Barnard College and Rowan University. The planned activities are designed to stimulate student interest in science or engineering as a college major and to increase awareness of the important role that nanoscience is assuming in today's global society.

The teachers participating in the Saturday bus trip were selected from a pool of high school and middle school educators who, over the last two summers, have taken part in a NYSUT-sponsored program on strategies to prepare students to enter the high-tech workforce. NYSUT hosted the program at its Latham headquarters in collaboration with California-based SEMI High Tech University, a not-for-profit charitable organization, created in 2001 to support education and career awareness in high-tech fields.

The field trip participants will not incur any costs, which are being covered by NYSUT and Rensselaer.

NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents more than 600,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; faculty and other professionals at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York, and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.